Foner Discussion

As noted on the schedule, next Wednesday Friday we will be having a discussion of Eric Foner’s Nothing But Freedom, one of the required books for this course. Those students who are NOT in Brown College need to comment on this post before our class meeting on Wednesday Friday. The rest of you (the Brownians) will post after class. Please use your comments before class to answer one of the following questions. Those of you who post after class can use your comment to expand on points brought up in the discussion, bring up new points, and/or respond to the comments of other students on the post.

1. Foner’s book compares the post-emancipation experience of several slave societies, including in Haiti, the British West Indies, and the American South. What, if anything, did all of these post-emancipation experiences have in common?
2. According to Foner, what aspects of the American emancipation experience made it distinctive? What difference did the unique aspects of emancipation in the United States make to the fate of freedpeople?
3. Did freedpeople view sharecropping as wholly opposed to their interests? Why or why not?
4. According to Foner, what were the most important consequences of the rise of Redemption governments?

Since it’s been a few weeks since we had our last discussion, let me know if you have questions about this assignment.